Think of revolution in Latin America and you may well picture men with berets riding tanks, addressing large crowds and oozing machismo. Scan photos from Cuba in the 1960s, or Nicaragua in the 1980s, and most of the leaders have beards or moustaches. Women may have helped to seize power and smash the old order – especially in Nicaragua – but precious few got senior positions in the new.

For women, however, Venezuela's revolution is more complicated. From a distance, Hugo Chávez's outsized personality dominates coverage of the "21st-century socialist" experiment unfolding on this Caribbean tip of South America. Always with something to say, the tank-commander-turned president is a magnetic, ubiquitous presence.

But beyond the Miraflores palace, where Chávez is protected by soldiers and bodyguards, there are a striking number of women in key positions.

The head of the supreme court, the head of the national electoral commission, the attorney general, the ombudsman and the deputy head of the national assembly, as well as numerous ministers and legislators, are women. Now, with the commandante battling cancer, and a question mark over his re-election next year, women are poised to play key roles in Venezuela's political future. If Chávez recovers his health, women-led institutions could tilt the election his way, backed by female grassroots activists who mobilise voters. If Chávez dies or is sidelined, expect to see women prominent in the jockeying for power.

Feminist supporters say Venezuela has come a long way under Chávez, with laws enshrining women's rights, the establishment of a women's and gender equality ministry and a bank, Banmujer, which gives credit to poor women. Some 70% of beneficiaries of government social programmes, knows as "misiones", are women.

"This is a feminist revolution. It has opened a path for us," says Jacqueline Farias, head of the district capital government and a top Chávez lieutenant. But critics say progressive legislation is of scant comfort to women raising families amid rampant inflation, high murder rates and domestic violence. Men still dominate key positions, notably in the cabinet, and Chávez is prone to sexist remarks: blowing a kiss to Condoleezza Rice saying, "Take your kiss. Don't mess me with girl." And calling Maria Corina Machado, a veteran opponent and his possible rival next year, "that little bourgeois woman with a nice figure".

Merely having women in senior posts does not prove feminist progress, says Blanca Rosa Marmol de Leon, a dissident supreme court judge. Such women are collaborating in an authoritarian regime's human rights violations – including the prosecution of another female judge, Maria Afiuni, who made a ruling that angered the president, she says: "This is a society where people are blind and deaf to abuses." Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others, have also expressed concern about the president's grip on state institutions and intimidation of opponents.

So are Venezuela's "revolucionarias" a refreshing, progressive force or a bully's accomplices? Farias, "jefa" of the district capitalz government, is one of the most powerful women in government. The hydro engineer is Chávez's troubleshooter and since 2009, administrator of Caracas.

A passionate advocate of the revolution, she says: "Before this was a sad, malformed country. The commandante has transformed us into people who want to change their reality." Farias is competent and energetic, but some see her as a symbol of antidemocratic usurpation. Chávez created the district capital entity only when Caracas voted in an opposition mayor, whose office and powers Farias took. She insists her post was mandated – albeit ignored – in the 1999 constitution.

Venezuela's economic and social woes, including rampant inflation, currency devaluations, decaying infrastructure and rising murder rate are also dismissed by supporters such as Eva Golinger, a Caracas-based American activist. She points to the success of land reform, new state enterprises, expanded education and alliances with China, Russia and other anti-imperialist partners. "I'm a believer because I've seen the changes. People have short memories, they forget how bad things were before. Poverty and inequality are way down. And we're just starting. In another 10 years this country won't be recognisable."

Born on a US air force base to an American father and Venezuelan mother, who took her on human rights marches, Golinger was a lawyer in New York when Chávez was briefly ousted in a 2002 rightwing coup. There, she used the Freedom of Information Act to winkle official documents showing, among other things, that Washington knew about the plot. Now 38, she lives in Caracas editing the English-language version of the publicly funded newspaper Correo del Orinoco and revealing alleged US plots to topple Chávez. She has accused journalists and NGOs of treason and being on Washington's payroll. Last year the national assembly approved the so-called Golinger law, which limits foreign funding for rights groups, political parties and other NGOs. Those affected call it a witch-hunt against civil society and government opponents. "This is an effort to asphyxiate us," says Rafael Uzcategui, of the rights advocacy group Provea.

If the threat is realised, Iris Varela will be applauding. Thanks to her flaming red hair and thunderous speeches, the woman recently promoted to the cabinet to overhaul crumbling jails has been nicknamed The Firecracker by Chávez. "Before people used to eat dog-food, scramble in the rubbish for scraps, but now everyone eats better," she says. "Chávez has demystified power. People have access to the government. I will do everything I can – everything – to make sure Commandante Chávez remains in power."

Yet Varela supports restrictions on NGOs and helped to strip parliamentary immunity from two newly elected opposition deputies, keeping them in jail. She also famously assaulted, on air, an anti-government TV host, Gustavo Azócar, who was subsequently jailed for alleged corruption.

Chávez's stellar ratings may have fallen but, health permitting, he retains a strong chance of re-election. While speaking of ruling beyond 2030, he has also floated the idea of a female successor and there are rumours that one of his two adult daughters will step up. "When I hand over the presidency I would like to hand it over to a woman," he told his party last year. "Sorry gentlemen."